Corn was mostly lower on ahead of the USDA reports. The trade does expect tighter ending stocks and lower South American production estimates. The latest estimate for Argentina’s corn crop from the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange pegs the crop at 22 million tons, considerably less than initial expectations with drought damage definitely a factor. Past that – there was no real fresh news, especially from the demand side of the market. Ethanol futures were mixed. France’s Agrimer estimates 2011/12 corn production at 15.4 million tons.

The wheat complex was mostly lower, also ahead of the USDA numbers. U.S. ending stocks shouldn’t change all that much but may be down from the previous month. However, the trade continues to watch winterkill and transportation issues in Eastern Europe. SovEcon and Dow Jones Newswires report the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk has suspended grain shipments because of stormy weather conditions. European wheat was lower ahead of the USDA numbers. DTN and Reuters state Spain has purchased about 200,000 tons of U.S. wheat “in past weeks” due to a tighter Eastern European supply. DTN adds Taiwan is tendering for 85,300 tons of wheat and Tunisia is in the market for 50,000 tons of milling wheat. In sell-buy-sell activity, Japan bought 48,245 tons of feed barley and 3,000 tons of feed wheat while tendering for another 200,000 tons of feed barley and 100,000 tons of feed wheat. USDA’s agricultural attaché in Iraq reports an 11% year to year decline in wheat production, down to 1.87 million tons, following poor rainfall in northern growing areas. France’s Agrimer projects 2011/12 soft wheat production at 33.98 million tons, roughly 1.7 million less than 2010/11, with exports to E.U. nations at 6.7 million tons and sales to outside of the E.U. at 8.7 million tons.

Boxed beef cutout values closed higher on moderate demand and light to moderate offerings. Choice boxed beef was up .88 at 186.56, and select was up 1.37 at 181.48.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday and settled 42 higher to 60 points lower. Futures backed away from the early market support based on pressure in the corn market. The two front months were higher on improved wholesale beef prices. The back months were lower on weaker outside markets. February settled .42 higher at 125.77., and April was up .22 at 128.80.

Feeder cattle settled 10 to 52 points higher with traders focusing on the moderate pressure throughout the grain market. Trade volume was sluggish keeping traders mainly on the sidelines. March settled .27 higher at 155.27, and April was up .45 at 157.55.

Feeder cattle receipts at the Ozarks Regional Stockyards at West Plains, Missouri totaled 5421 head on Tuesday. Compared to last week’s sale steers sold steady to 8.00 higher with the advance on the 600 to 750 pound offerings. Heifers were also steady to 8.00 higher with weights over 750 pounds steady to 1.00 lower.  However some soft fleshy or plainer calves weighing 450 to 600 pounds were weak to 3.00 lower. Feeder steers medium and large 1 averaging 630 pounds traded at 171.16 per hundredweight. 621 pound heifers averaged 148.49.

Lean hogs settled 27 higher to 17 lower as initial support in the livestock markets quickly faded.  Slow product demand continues to be of concern to traders. Tuesday’s higher pork cutout value worked to support the February contract, but lower cash prices affected most of the other contracts. February was up .10 and settled at 86.27, April finished at 88.50 down .15.

There was slow to moderate activity with light demand in the hogs on Wednesday .Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed .34 lower at 86.14, the West was down .73 at 85.87, and the Eastern market was .22 higher at 80.84, weighted averages on a carcass basis. Missouri direct base carcass meat price closed steady from 60.00 to 81.00. Terminal prices were fully steady from 57.50 to 60.00 on a live basis.

Pork trading was slow with light to moderate demand and offerings. Pork carcass cutout value closed .13 lower at 85.05.

Wednesday’s hog slaughter was estimated at 421,000 head, 4,000 more than last week and last year. Saturday’s hog kill is now expected to be around 50,000 head. Most packers reportedly have enough hogs to carry them through the week and are mainly bidding for next weeks supplies.

Corn was modestly lower on technical selling and profit taking. Corn was also looking at a lack of fresh supportive news while getting ready for the upcoming report from the Ag Department. Losses were limited by good domestic demand, the outside markets, and concerns about South America’s crops. Ethanol futures were modestly higher. Mexico’s Ag Ministry, via Dow Jones Newswires, expects southern and southeastern Mexico’s corn crop to be up sharply on the year thanks to improved technology.

The wheat complex was modestly lower on profit taking and technical selling. There was no fresh news for wheat either as the complex also starts squaring up for Thursday’s USDA numbers. Still, Japan is in the market for U.S. wheat (33,897 tons hard red winter and 22,810 tons western white along with 41,845 tons of Canadian western red spring) and the trade has continued concerns about Eastern European weather with Dow Jones Newswires reporting thick ice in some Ukrainian harbors along with another wave of extremely cold weather in areas with limited snow cover. European wheat was lower on profit taking and expectations for a good sized European crop, even with some winterkill damage.

Boxed beef cutout values were higher on light demand and offerings. Choice boxed beef was up 1.02 at 185.68, and select was up 1.04 at 180.11.

Live cattle contracts settled 60 to 160 points higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Tuesday. Triple digit gains were seen in the front months on the increased boxed beef values.  Stronger outside support and a lower U.S. dollar value also benefited the live cattle futures. February settled 1.60 higher at 125.35, and April was up 1.07 at 128.57.

Feeder cattle ended the session 10 to 87 points higher on support from the live pit and a slightly softer corn market. March settled .87 higher at 155.00, and April was up .55 at 157.10.

Lean hog contracts settled 62 higher to 95 points lower on the CME during Tuesday’s session. A lack of support in the cash market and additional trade interest in rolling out of the front month into the April and June futures were the main market features. The spot month was down the most due to lower pork cutout values. Demand for pork continues to be lower than expected.  February hogs settled .95 lower at 86.17, and April was up .55 at 89.10.

Feeder cattle receipts at the Joplin, Missouri Regional Stockyards on Monday totaled 4976 head. Compared to last week, steer calves were steady; heifer calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 3.00 to 6.00 lower, following last week’s sharply higher trade. Yearlings trended steady with the exception of seven weight steers steady to 1.00 higher. Demand was moderate to good on a moderate supply. Feeder steers medium and large 1 weighing 718 pounds averaged 155.39 per hundredweight. Heifers with an average weight of 670 pounds traded at 145.71.

There was slow to moderate market activity with light demand for hogs on Tuesday. The Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed 1.06 higher at 86.47 on a carcass basis, the West was up 1.33 at 86.72, and the East was down .56 at 80.62. Missouri direct base carcass meat price closed steady from 80.00 to 81.00. Terminal hogs were steady with an instance of 1.00 lower from 57.50 to 61.00.

Pork trading was slow to moderate with light to moderate demand and offerings. Pork carcass cutout value was up .43 at 85.18.

Hog slaughter was estimated at 421,000 head, 4,000 more than last week, and 7,000 greater than a year ago. Packer margins remain poor and some processors may wait for an improvement in product prices before increasing their chain speed. Cash prices should remain weak through the end of the week, with some improvement in bids next week as supplies may be tighter than previously expected.

Corn was mixed in consolidation trade. There’s no fresh news, the outside markets were bearish, and commercial demand has slowed down. South America’s corn crop has been damaged but most of that seems to be factored in. Ethanol was firm. Brazilian crop consultancy Celeres, via Dow Jones Newswires, projects that nation’s summer corn crop at 35.45 million tons, down nearly 4% from its January estimate but still up more than 7% from the previous year thanks to increased acreage. Celeres adds 8% of the summer corn crop is harvested and the firm estimates winter corn production at 25.14 million tons.

The wheat complex was mostly higher with Chicago and Kansas City up short covering and commercial buying. There are the continued concerns about winterkill in Eastern Europe and Western Europe also had damaging cold over the weekend. Also, Ukraine is set to slow down exports by halting railroad exports of grain. European wheat made a new eight month high thanks to weather worries and the lower Euro.

Boxed beef cutout values were higher on moderate demand and light to moderate offerings. Choice beef was up 1.54 at 184.66, and select was up .99 at 179.07.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled 37 higher to 15 lower. The front months held early gains following light to moderate boxed beef market support in the noon report. The trade remained generally sluggish with the far deferred contracts in the red while the nearby’s showed moderate gains. February settled .12 higher at 123.75, and April was up .10 at 127.50.

Feeder cattle settled 10 to 50 points lower despite the ability for the live cattle contracts to hold slight gains through much of the session. Traders remain concerned about the longer term trend in the in the cash cattle markets as well as a lack of renewed support as the outlook of lower overall cattle numbers and potentially tighter feeder supplies fade into the background.  March settled .32 lower at 154.12, and April was down .47 at 156.55.

Feeder cattle receipts at the Oklahoma National Stockyards on Monday totaled 6200 head. Compared to last week feeder steers and heifers at midsession were steady. Steer calves traded 4.00 to 8.00 higher; heifer calves were steady to 2.00 higher. Demand was moderate to good. Feeder steers medium and large 1 weighing 500 to 550 pounds traded from 184.00 to 196.50. 550 to 600 pound heifers brought 150.50 to 163.50.

Lean hogs settled 37 higher to 40 lower with only the summer month contracts in the black. The tone of the market firmed through much of the complex with the front month February contract lagging behind the remainder of the market. Liquidation developed in the front months with little direction coming from the cash or wholesale markets. February settled .40 lower at 87.12, and April was down .37 at 88.55.

There was slow market activity in the hogs with light demand on Monday. Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed .62 lower and the West was down .50 with both at 85.43, weighted average on a carcass basis. The Eastern markets were 1.15 lower at 91.18. Missouri direct base carcass meat price closed steady from 80.00 to 81.00. Terminal barrows and gilts were steady to 1.00 higher from 57.50 to 61.00.

Pork trading was slow with mostly light demand and light to moderate offerings. Pork carcass cutout value was down .35 at 84.75.

Monday’s hog kill was estimated at 419,000 head, 19,000 more than last week, and 5,000 greater than a year ago. Cash hog markets have yet to show a clear seasonal surge in demand. Some production areas in the Midwest have had problems with getting hogs to market due to the heavy snow over the weekend. The cash market is expected to be weak to lower through midweek.

Corn was modestly higher on technical buying and spillover from beans. There was no fresh news with most of the South American crop damage probably factored in at this time. However, we do know that damage has been done – USDA’s agricultural attaché has lowered its’ production outlook for Argentina, from 26 million tons to 21.8 million tons, while Informa Economics pegs the Argentina crop at 22.5 million tons and sees Brazil’s corn crop at 61.65 million. The next official USDA estimate is out with the supply and demand numbers on Thursday, February 9. Ethanol futures were steady to weak. Dow Jones Newswires reports South Korean feedmills bought 174,500 tons of corn (Major Feedmill Group: 69,500 tons optional origin; the Busan branch of the Korea Feed Association: 55,000 tons U.S. corn; the Seoul branch of the KFA: 50,000 tons optional origin) with delivery scheduled for mid-May. DTN and Dow Jones add Taiwan’s Maize Industry Procurement Association bought 55,000 tons of Argentine origin corn for shipment in mid to late March.

The wheat complex was mixed. Chicago and Kansas City were down on profit taking and technical selling. Minneapolis was up on the comparatively good demand for high protein wheat. On Friday, Russia raised its export projection to 27 million tons and said it won’t add an export tax this April. Moscow says grain exports as of February 3 are 19.6 million tons and along with an increase in the production total, up to 93.9 million tons, the Ag Ministry also cited enough carryover and intervention stocks as reasons for the export increase. Dow Jones Newswires Eastern European growing areas should see a break from the recent extremely cold conditions. European wheat was up on the recent Eastern European weather concerns. India’s Farm Ministry expects domestic wheat production to be a new record high 88.31 million tons.